Introduction

Naturally, most manufacturers are inclined to have their best products reviewed, as a high-cost product is less likely to have many flaws and it's easy to leave the average user awestruck, promoting the company name. However, the bulk of the revenue of most companies comes from their "mainstream" products, where the target market is many times larger than that of enthusiasts and highly advanced users. In the past several months, we've had the chance to have a look at several advanced cases, some designed for performance while others were meant for special applications. Today we are going to have a look at a standard Mid-ATX case with a price tag of about $60, the BitFenix Neos.

BitFenix is no stranger to AnandTech. Many of their products have been through our labs, from the $39 Merc Alpha to the $159 Shinobi XL, each with its own target group, strengths, and weaknesses. The BitFenix Neos that we are reviewing today aims to be an affordable, simple, and stylish case. It can be found selling from about $50 to $75, depending on the color configuration. Two chassis are available, either black or white, but there is a large selection of faceplate/mesh colors for either chassis, including black, white, red, bronze, silver, gold, blue, and purple.

12 oz. Coke can for size comparison.

Packaging and Bundle

BitFenix supplies the Neos in colorless, brown cardboard boxes. Illustrations on the box depict the most important features of the case. Inside the box, the lightweight case is very well protected by thick styrofoam slabs and a nylon bag. As for the bundle, we are not going to delve much into it, simply because there is virtually nothing noteworthy supplied with the Neos. With the purchase of this case, the user will only receive a basic manual and the necessary screws in a small nylon bag. 

BitFenix Neos Exterior

As we mentioned on the previous page, the Neos is available in multiple chassis/faceplate color combinations. BitFenix supplied us with both the black and white chassis of the Neos, shipping us a black/black and a white/white model of the case. The company also supplied us with the corresponding windowed side panels of each model.

Aesthetically, the Neos is based on a very simple, straightforward, and clean design. The chassis is just an ordinary SECC steel body, without any aesthetic modifications, while the faceplate basically is a metallic mesh on a plastic frame. The only aesthetic improvement is the rounded edges of the faceplate and the metallic mesh. This does not mean that the Neos is bad looking – a minimalistic design actually is much better than an extravagant "aggressive" appearance for most users.

Structurally, the Neos makes use of a thin (0.7-0.8 mm) SECC steel chassis, which is adequate for a case of this size and acceptable considering the price range of the case. The plastic frame of the faceplate seems good as well. The metallic mesh however can be an issue, as it can be easily disformed or damaged, especially when handling the 5.25" covers if you're not careful.

Aside from the aluminum company logo, the faceplate of the Neos is entirely plain. BitFenix moved the I/O ports and buttons to the top of the plastic faceplate frame. From left to right, we can see a round power on button, a rectangular reset button, the 3.5" audio jacks, two LED lights (power and disk activity), one USB 2.0 port, and one USB 3.0 port. (Note that providing a single USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 is a bit odd, as they usually come in pairs so effectively you lose one of each with this arrangement.) The positioning of the I/O ports and buttons limited the number of 5.25" bays to just two, but they should be more than sufficient for most users.

The removal of the faceplate reveals two filters. First, a foam-type filter is right behind the metallic mesh of the faceplate – this is sure to get dirty very easily. The second filter is a nylon net-type filter, covering the 120mm intake fan openings.

A look at the back of the case reveals that the Neos has its PSU compartment down at the bottom of the case, as well as two rubber grommets for the tubing of liquid cooling setups. These openings can also be used for cables, if required. The feet of the case are nearly 2.5 cm tall, which is a forced requirement as the intake of the PSU is below the case. A nylon net filter can be found there, removable towards the rear of the case, limiting the amount of dust that will be introduced into the PSU.

BitFenix Neos Interior

The interior of the BitFenix Neos is relatively simple, nearly as much as a generic low cost Mid-Tower case. Everything inside the case is bolted together – no bays or metallic parts are removable. The motherboard tray is sizable enough for a typical ATX motherboard, with an opening behind the CPU area for the installation of CPU coolers.

Of course the size and location won't work for anyone with a motherboard that does not have its CPU socket right at the center of the upper left square area formed by the four screws, which will affect more than half of the motherboards available today, forcing the users to remove them in order to change the CPU cooler. On the other hand, those who rarely change out CPU coolers will be able to install the cooler before installing the motherboard. Note that the case is narrow as well, and CPU coolers taller than 150-155mm are not going to fit. Furthermore, instead of using brass motherboard stand-offs, the tray itself is embossed to form screw fixings for the motherboard. This can make assembly more convenient at times at the cost of some flexibility.

Across the right edge of the motherboard tray, there are four holes for the routing of cables. A fifth hole is present at the top left corner of the tray as well. None of these holes have any rubber grommets and all of them are barely large enough for an ATX 24-pin connector to fit. As there is virtually no clearance behind the motherboard tray for the routing of cables, the right section is elevated for the thick ATX cable to fit. Unfortunately, the use of a couple of PCI Express cables and SATA cables will require more than a little force to close the side panel.

There are three drive cages in the Neos. The top cage is for two 5.25" devices, which can be secured using the plastic locks. The middle cage is narrow, slightly increasing the clearance for one GPU card up to 310mm, and holds three trays for 2.5" devices. Finally, the bottom cage is for three 3.5" devices, but its trays can be used for 2.5" devices as well. For 3.5" devices, no tools are required, but in either case a screwdriver is necessary for the installation of a 2.5" drive.

The motherboard expansion slots are perhaps the greatest issue of the Neos. We have not seen the use of perforated non-reusable covers in a long time, but here they are, the removal of which is permanent and frequently leaves nasty dents behind. Above the expansion slots, the only stock fan of the case can be seen, a black 120mm fan. Take note that due to the narrowness of the case, there is no clearance to install a liquid cooling radiator wider than the fan itself here.

There is plenty of room for any kind of power supply, yet we advise against the installation of a unit longer than 160mm, as the fan opening is small and the displacement of the fan backwards will result in partial blockage, which is a problem with PSUs as it can leave critical components without sufficient cooling. The PSU sits on embossed metallic feet formed from the case panel itself. For this review, BitFenix supplied us one of their Fury 750G PSUs that has individually sleeved cables and is a perfect fit for the Neos.

As exhibited in the pictures of our test build, the interior of the BitFenix Neos is relatively comfortable to work with but can easily end up looking messy, as the cable management options are very limited. The only pathway for the routing of cables, to the right of the motherboard tray, becomes congested with just the thick 24-pin ATX cable going through it. The placement of the hole at the top left corner of the tray appears to have been done with little thought, as a typical motherboard blocks it entirely, leaving no room for a CPU power cable to fit through. There is enough space to comfortably work with the connectors and cables of the 2.5" and 3.5" drives though.

To summarize the component limitations once again, CPU coolers taller than 150mm are not recommended and a single 310mm GPU card may be installed. 160mm long PSUs are strongly advised. The radiators of AIO liquid cooling systems cannot be installed anywhere as well, and the routing options for cables are lacking. Given the price, these flaws could be overlooked provided the performance and other features prove desirable, so let's move on to our testing.

Test Setup

Professional testing requires the emulation of real-world situations with repeatable results; thus, a perfectly controllable test setup and environment are required, especially for comparable results. Testing the thermal performance of any case with a typical real-world setup technically limits the comparability of the results to this setup alone, as an active system interacts with its environment and the change of a single component would alter myriads of variables.

To help alleviate such issues, we developed synthetic loads that emulate the thermal output of real systems, but these loads are passive, steady, and quantifiable. Our thermal testing now displays the thermal capabilities of the case alone, as if it would have to deal with the entire thermal load by itself, regardless of the system installed inside it. Laboratory data loggers are used to monitor the PT100 sensors and control the safety relays, which are fully accessible via our custom software.

Three such loads have been developed; the ATX version simulates a 200W CPU, 50W VRM, 30W RAM and 4 × 120W GPU card thermal load. Finally, three 3.5" HDD dummy loads have also been created, with each of them converting 30W of electrical power to thermal, bringing the total thermal load of the ATX test setup up to 850 Watts. This thermal load is immense and only the best of cases will be able to handle it for more than a few minutes; we are also performing a test with a thermal load of 400W, with all of the aforementioned components except the HDD drives at about 42% power, which is more suitable for the majority of cases.

Thermal testing is performed with the stock fan operating at maximum speed. Noise testing is performed with a background noise level of 30.4dB(A). Advanced noise testing is also performed, in order to assess the ability of the case to dampen the noise of the components installed inside it. This includes the installation of two noise-generating sources (strong fans) inside the case, one positioned approximately over the first expansion slot and one over the CPU area, which generate ≈ 44.2 dB(A) when unobstructed. During the advanced noise test, all stock cooling options of the case are entirely disabled.

Results and Discussion

Our testing ended prematurely when the thermal load was operating at full power, as the thermal failsafe kicked in. Sadly, the stock thermal performance of the Neos is, simply put, horrific. Despite the large openings at the front of the case and the presence of a strong 120mm exhaust fan, the Neos performed far worse than we originally anticipated. It handles the 400W load better, but it's definitely not the best case for high performance systems.

When compared to other cases of similar size, the enormous difference becomes apparent. Note that the thermal load used during our testing is immense; a typical home/gaming system with a single GPU should operate just fine in the Neos, yet the operating temperatures will be considerably higher than with a more advanced case.

There is just one 120mm cooling fan in the Neos, and it is a fairly strong and noisy model. The single 120mm fan generates 44.3dB(A), which is enough to be clearly audible to the user from one meter away. There are no fan control options for the Neos, therefore a fan controller is required to achieve the 50% and 70% fan speeds depicted in the chart below.

As expected, the Neos has very little noise reduction capabilities as well. It is simply not designed with low-noise operation in mind and there are virtually zero noise reduction measures about this case. The many openings at the front do not help either. The Neos reduced the noise level of our artificial noise source from 44.2dB(A) to 43.0dB(A), a very small and virtually imperceptible difference for the human ear.

Conclusion

BitFenix designed the Neos to be a low-cost yet stylish option for the average consumer that wants to build a simple system. It is a sound concept, as the vast majority of computer users will not be buying a case more expensive than $80-100. BitFenix offers the Neos for $50 to $75, depending on the color combination. A side panel window will cost the user an extra $18-20, bringing the minimum cost up to $70, pushing the boundaries of what most users would consider an acceptable price for a low-cost product. Still, the Neos would be an interesting choice as a stylish case for the casual user.

However, the Neos simply fails to deliver. Their aesthetic value is limited to the choice of a chassis/faceplate color combination. The neutral, minimalistic design is based on a low-cost SECC steel chassis, leaving the Neos without much to be proud of. With design being its major selling point, the Neos is certainly not faring very well. That however is just the tip of the iceberg formed by the cons of the Neos.

The chassis that the Neos is based on is, mildly put, archaic. We would not expect to see it used for anything other than the cheapest of cases nowadays. There is no clearance behind the motherboard tray and the cable/cooler cutouts appear to have been created with little thought for utility. No cages are removable and the use of destructible expansion card covers is nearly comedic (flashback to the 90s for those of us that are old enough). There is no top panel ventilation, it is not possible to use AIO liquid coolers, and the narrow chassis limits the selection of the CPU cooler as well, severely impeding the thermal management options.

The selection of the cooling fan is questionable as well. It would seem that BitFenix tried to balance the poor thermal performance of the Neos by installing a rather powerful 120mm fan... unsuccessfully. If it would help the Neos achieve good thermal performance, we could let this slide for a case of this price range, but the noisy 120mm fan is not enough to turn this outdated design into a competitive model.

Even for the price of the most basic model, the BitFenix Neos seems unable to face the competition. It would be able to house a typical PC without any issues, but there are many other and significantly more reasonable options within its price range. With its very poor thermal performance and virtually nonexistent versatility, it would be hard to recommend the Neos to any users, with the sole exception of those that simply really like its design.